Chapter 12
Shauntay
“You have been quiet all morning, Yazzy. Are you okay?” I asked Yasmine who was sitting at the kitchen table. She had not touched her breakfast. Instead, she had her pen and paper out scribbling a note. I wondered what she was scribbling with such an intense air upon her tiny, pretty face.
“I’m fine,” Yasmine said. She was curt and somber and something was bothering my little sugar bear, who was otherwise very upbeat.
I sighed. Poor baby had to deal with more than any eight year old should have to. When Ruby dropped them back off last night, she didn’t tell me a reason; she just looked at me with hurt emanating from her spirit and I knew what she needed of me. I ushered Benedict and Yasmine into the house without question and she pulled off into the night.
After I tucked my two god-babies in, my cell phone vibrated, alerting me that I had a text message. It was Ruby with a message saying: I was going to go back home, but I’m heading to Serenity’s house for the night. Be on the lookout for a drunk Ronan that might come by looking for me.
I shook my head, knowing Ronan had better sense than to show up at our house in the middle of the night again. I went and peeped in on Contessa and she was out like a light. I tipped into my bedroom and slid under the covers and into the warm arms of my loving husband. I planted my backside against the empty groove that he left for me in the bed. His sonorous breathing lulled me into a deep sleep where none of Ruby and Ronan’s problems existed.
As expected, Ronan did not come by at any point during the night. The dry way Benedict and Yasmine were behaving as we all sat at the breakfast table told me that whatever they witnessed the night prior had rattled them to a point of silence.
“She’s mad because she don’t like what my daddy did to my mommy,” Benedict spoke up on Yasmine’s behalf.
“Am not!”
“Are too!”
“Okay, settle down. Both of you. You both should just eat your breakfast before it gets cold,” I said as I studied them both.
“Okay, Aunt Tay,” they said in unison.
Once again, the room fell abnormally quiet as they finished their breakfast. There was no bickering around the table. No singing and no talk about what was going to happen at school later in the day. Finally, Yasmine broke the silence and looked up from the paper she was writing on.
“Aunt Tay, how do you spell break?” Yasmine asked.
“Do you mean like a car brake or like when something is broken?”
“When something is broken,” she replied sweetly.
“Okay, it’s B-R-E-A-K,” I told her, and she went back to writing on her paper. “What are you writing, Yasmine?”
“I have to write a note to someone,” she said without raising up from the message she was writing. “How do you spell heart?” she asked and I knew that this little lady was writing a letter to her father.
I spelled all the words she asked of me over the next five minutes. When she was done with her letter, she tucked it into her satchel and resumed eating her breakfast.
“Do you have an envelope?” Yasmine asked.
“Yes, I will get you one on the way out.”
I handed Yasmine the envelope, as we were walking out of the door heading to their school. She wrote addressed it to her father with their home address on it. She held onto the envelope, until she hopped out the car and asked, “Auntie Shauntay, this letter is very important and it is for my daddy. Will you mail it for me?”
“I sure will, sweetheart,” I said before giving her a kiss.
“Your mom will be here to pick you up from school,” I said including both of them in my gaze.
“Yes ma’am,” they said before Yasmine took Benedict’s hand and they walked into the school’s double doors.
I pulled off and shook my head. Yasmine had a lot on her mind, and apparently, she had written her father to inform him of it. I had to talk to Ruby to see exactly transpired last night.
Chapter 13
Ruby
The smell of fresh coffee awoke me. It had been three days since I caught Ronan in the garage with Misty. He had been blowing my phone up and even tried the trick of picking the children up from school, so I would be forced to deal with him. I told him if he did not get those kids back over to Shauntay’s house then he could just kiss any type of reconciliation and a shitload of his cash goodbye. I wasn’t going to allow him to use our kids as pawns in his game. That was where I drew the line. I told him I would sit down and have a meeting with him, and until then he was not to play anymore games with me, and especially not our children.
Meanwhile, I’d been locked up in Serenity’s apartment. I was no closer to feeling like talking to him than I was when I pulled up on him and Misty. I rubbed my eyes open and got out of bed. I headed to the shower that was connected to the guest bedroom. I took off my clothes and turned on the shower. After allowing the water to run for a few minutes, I stepped under the warm spray and began my ritual of cleansing my body.
As I worked my way from my head down to my breasts and stomach, a tear dropped from my eye. I began wailing once my towel landed on my lower abdomen, directly over my incision site. It was healed, but a subtle reminder of the beginning of the slippery slope that had become my life.
“Why me, God? Why did this have to happen to me?” I cried out as the warm water flowed over my body baptizing me with the essence of calm right there in Serenity’s bathroom. “God, whatever lesson you are trying to teach me, please let it resonate with me. Let it travel from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. Fill me up with Your will. I am at Your mercy. And God, please, whatever you do, please watch over my children. My innocent babies don’t deserve what they’re going through.”
I continued to cry until an old hymn my mother used to sing when she was battling cancer came bolting through my lips with a voice of its own. “Trouble in my way; I have to cry sometimes. Trouble in my way; I have to cry sometimes. I lay awake at night, but that’s alright. ‘Cause I know my Jesus will fix it. Jesus, He’s gonna fix it…after while…”
I cried, prayed and sang my woes out through that powerful hymn. By the time I finished, I felt so much better. I had given my troubles over to God. I had a pretty good sense that I was where God wanted me to be, after last night. I couldn’t save my marriage by myself. Ronan was going to have to meet me halfway.
I was wrong for not disclosing my diagnosis. Yes. However, Ronan was responsible for his actions, too. Until God worked on him, I refused to spend any more emotional capital on our marriage. I had to work on myself, for my soul’s sake and for my children’s sake.
I stepped out of the shower and dried off with one of Serenity’s big, fluffy pink towels. I felt renewed in spirit and with a good sense of direction to go in. I felt free of my deception to Ronan. I had given him my reasons for doing so and he said he understood. I had forgiven him for his affair with Misty. I even gave him my mind, body and soul as a peace offering, as I thought he had given me his. Even that wasn’t enough. Maybe this hold Misty had on him was stronger than I knew.
I brushed my teeth and finished grooming myself. Minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom to find Serenity sitting on the fluffy, pink comforter in the room I was staying in.
“Are you okay, Ruby?”
“Yeah.”
“I started to come in there when you were crying, but I decided to wait out here and give you time to let it out.”
“I feel better now,” I said with a smile. “Thanks for asking.”
“Listen, I know you’re going through a lot. I can’t say I have ever gone through anything like you are facing now.” Serenity paused. “But I want you to know I’m here for you. You are not just a boarder. You have a listening ear in me. A friend even.”
“Awe, thanks Serenity,” I said walking over to give her a hug. She stood up and greeted me with open arms. I couldn’t remember one bad thing about the girl as we grew to know each other bett
er.
“Now, as your friend, I must not allow you to sit around here and sulk any longer. So, now that the crying is out the way for today, let’s get moving. It’s good you have on some tights. Take that shirt off and replace it with a T-shirt and we’re about to hit the gym up.”
“Well,” I said thinking about my physical condition and whether I was ready to hit the gym again. “I don’t know if I can do much.”
“We all have to start somewhere. You can put the treadmill on the highest speed you can tolerate and lift one pound at a time. It doesn’t matter how intense you work out, just as long as you are there pushing it to the limit,” Serenity said. “Plus, you will feel so much better once you get out and get around people who are working on themselves.”
“Okay, I guess,” I said, knowing she was right, but unsure of working out. “Wait, are you going so you can be around those Knight brothers or are you really trying to work on yourself?” I asked giving her a knowing look.
“Hunty,” she said with a grin. “I’m just trying to work on myself and support black-owned business at the same time. We’ll they’re mixed, but you know what I’m saying.”
“Whatever Serenity,” I said before laughing.
“Whatever Ruby, I got you to laugh and that’s all that matters. I’ll be ready to go in twenty minutes. I already cooked, so you can grab some breakfast and meet me at in the living room when you’re ready,” she said as she walked out of the door.
“I’ll be ready,” I said and warmed up to the idea of going to the gym with Serenity. I had many things that needed my attention, but I welcomed the distraction of doing something different. Like Serenity said, I would be working on me.
Chapter 14
Ruby
“That was a great workout!” Serenity said.
Sweat glistened over her face and neck. Her gym shirt had a V-line of sweat going down to the crevice of her breasts and her back had sweat patches all over it.
“You really rocked it with your personal trainers. I thought they were going to have to shut down the gym the way the Knight brothers were fighting over training you,” I told her.
I could see a blush perk up on Serenity’s face. “The best man won. Jason is an awesome trainer. Whew, that man! Girl let me tell you, add a little caramel to his white chocolate and I could feast upon that man until he was no more.” She began fanning her face with her hand as if it was scorching.
“Somebody’s all hot and bothered. I see why you wanted to come to this gym. That was a good speech you gave about working on yourself.” I giggled.
“Look at me, Ruby. I’m dripping in sweat, burned off over a thousand calories, and I feel good. Just because I get in a little flirtation doesn’t mean I’m not taking my workout serious.”
“Touché,” I said, giving Serenity props. I had managed to get the treadmill up to the speed of one point five and walked for thirty minutes myself, so I was feeling pretty good.
“Let’s head out,” Serenity said after she finished stretching.
“Oooh! Do you want to stop at this restaurant? This guy named Darryl saved my life that day I stormed out of Ronan’s office and almost got hit in traffic. I told him I would stop by and check out his restaurant,” I said as my stomach began to grumble.
“Are you talking about Darryl’s Chicken and Waffles?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about that place but never ate there. It sounds like my kind of food, but I will never lose these last twenty pounds if I eat up in there,” Serenity said as we walked out of the gym exhausted. We hopped into her car and she took the scenic route to Darryl’s restaurant.
“On second thought,” she said as we pulled in and the smell of fried chicken wafted through the parking lot. “Since I burned a thousand calories, I guess I do have a few extra calories I can eat today,” she reasoned.
I laughed. “I guess you can think of it like that, or you could find a salad on their menu and order that.”
“Yeah, there’s always salad,” she said, pretending to stick her finger in her throat.
She pulled into the third parking space on the side of the building and we both hopped out. I didn’t know about Serenity, but after my workout I was salivating over the soul food smell.
The building was average in appearance on the outside, but when I walked in the first thing I noticed was the woodsy style of the establishment. It had a bar immediately to the left and to the right a peppy hostess waiting to seat us.
“Welcome to Darryl’s Chicken and Waffles, will you be dining in?” the hostess asked.
“Yes, we will,” Serenity said.
“Only two in your party?”
“Yes, two,” I answered.
“Would you like a table or a booth?”
“Give us a booth,” Serenity answered.
The hostess walked us to the back of the bustling restaurant and seated us in a booth in the center aisle.
“Your waitress will be with you shortly. In the meantime, can I take your drink order?” she asked.
“I’ll take a water,” I said.
“Same here,” Serenity chimed in.
“I’ll get you two glasses of water,” she said before sauntering off to the front of the restaurant to man her post.
“I’m going to have to tell Shauntay about this place. It’s nice. I didn’t even know it was so close to the gym.” Serenity picked up the menu and scanned it.
“She’s going to hate she had that doctor’s appointment this morning,” I said, “And it’s probably a good thing you didn’t know this place was here. I can feel the pounds packing on just sitting here smelling the food. I almost feel bad for bringing you here,” I said as I scanned the menu; everything on it seemed like it was going to be finger-licking good.
I looked up from the menu when I decided on the hearty lunch special that included a chicken breast, two sides and one of Darryl’s famous biscuits. My eyes landed on Darryl who was walking around greeting customers. He smiled as he wrapped up a conversation with a couple sitting at a table, showing an adorable grin. I could imagine what he was saying to them with his southern drawl and gentlemanly ways. He walked over and greeted me next. “Hi Miss Lady, what a pleasant surprise it is to see you here. I’ve been waiting for you to drop by.”
A full smile doesn’t hesitate to bloom on my lips. There was something easy going about Darryl that made me feel comfortable as I looked up at his tall frame. I felt a kick under the table from Serenity. She startled me out of my moment of silently observing him. When I realized I was just sitting there staring at Darryl, I cleared my throat and felt an embarrassed flush rise onto my cheeks.
“It’s nice to finally make it to your restaurant. I’ve been meaning to come by. You have a nice place here, Darryl. Oh, and please call me Ruby,” I finally found my voice to say. I sent Serenity a quick glance and she was cheesing hard. She looked between me to Darryl in amusement.
“Well, it’s very good to see you took my advice and decided to stop by, Ruby,” he drawled, as a waitress came to our table and placed our waters in front of us. She walked away, leaving us in the hands of Darryl and I could feel myself blushing more. Then, I realized I hadn’t introduced Serenity to Darryl yet.
“It’s good to see you again, Darryl. This is my friend Serenity Champagne. Serenity, this is Darryl…” I left his last name unsaid because I didn’t know it.
He jumped right in an offered it. “I’m Darryl Nichols and it’s a good to meet a friend of Ruby’s.” He offered Serenity a friendly handshake.
“He’s the owner of this fine establishment,” I added just before he lifted my hand as well. Instead of shaking my hand, he raised it to his lips and placed a soft kiss on the back of it.
I gasped in surprise and Serenity began to giggle, like she was getting a kick out of my wide-eyed reaction.
“Now, what can I get for you two Purdy ladies?” he asked, gesturing toward the vinyl menus already placed
on our table.
Still holding onto my hand, he looked into my eyes, as if he was searching for something. What that something was, I didn’t know. I tugged my hand from his and picked up the menu again. I gave the menu my undivided attention to keep from looking into Darryl’s handsome face.
“You see something you want, Serenity?” I asked her.
“Yes, I do,” she said. “I will have the number four, with an ice tea, please.”
“You got it,” Darryl responded.
“Now, what about you?” Darryl bestowed his gaze upon me once again.
“I’ll have what she’s having,” I said. I had been looking at the menu and heck if I didn’t forget what I wanted earlier.
“Great choices…But everything on the menu is good,” Darryl said with a crooked smile and an arch to his brow.
“I bet it is,” agreed Serenity.
“If that will be all, I will send a waitress right on back as soon as your orders are ready,” he said before picking up the menus on the table and walking off with an air of dominance.
“Girl!” Serenity drawled out as soon as Darryl was out of earshot. “You’ve been holding out on me and Shauntay. Wait until Shauntay gets a load of what you’ve been keeping under wraps. That is a fine ass brother,” Serenity finally stopped talking and starred at me with laughter in her eyes.
“You can get that look off your face Serenity. I’m a married woman, remember?”
“I hate to break it to you sister, but you need to be telling your husband he’s a married man.” Serenity didn’t hold back. She just spoke what was on her mind and I didn’t know if I liked it.
As painful as it was to hear Serenity’s words spoken aloud, they were true words nonetheless. There was no use sugarcoating the state of my marriage. It was what it was. And what is was, was a hot ass mess. A sham of broken vows and infidelity.
To The Woman He Loves 2 Page 9